dragonbreathpress My random thoughts on rocks, bicycling and other out-door actvities, as well as father's rights and the occassional rant

Archive for the ‘Rock-show’ Category

On Sunday, I returned to the Sacramento Mineral Society’s 75th Annual Gem Show. After not seeing people on Saturday (I had several other things going on — I will probably write about one of them in the next few days), I returned on Sunday to see people in high spirits — vendors, customers and club members. The floor was not packed, but people came to spend some money. This seems to be a turn-around from the last couple of years. Does this mean we have an uptick in the rock-hound consumer confidence index? Did we have the vendors with the mix of things people wanted to buy? Hard to say, but as I mingled shopped and photographed, the feedback was positive. Vendors made money and people went home with nice new prizes.

At the silent auction, business was a bit slower than on Friday, but for those who came up, there were deals to be had: labradorite, agate, jasper, thundereggs, geodes, jade, fluorite, sheen obsidian, vesuvianite… slabs, rough, specimens… I even acquired what I’m pretty sure is a fulgurite. Toward the end of the afternoon, the already cheap prices dropped further. Rock bottom prices (bad pun intended) were available and taken advantage of

The “take” on the auction was a bit over $1200, clearing the $1000 needed to award the scholarship to a Sac State geology student in his junior year. The student was actually unable to be there, as he was on a field trip. Many thanks to our many customers who made this scholarship possible (some spend in excess of $100, returning again and again as new treasures went out onto the table).

At 4PM, the fun was over (not really), and it was time for the real work to begin — clean-up.

Rarely have I seen such chaos move so smoothly. As the vendors packed up, and it was clear that they had done this once or twice before, club members lent a hand, assembled the club’s property (many folding tables, power cords and display cases, as well as left-over rock and various other goodies) and generally performed a thorough cleaning. It was not necessary to have ADD to be there, but it probably would have helped. By 7PM, it was hard to believe there had been a show with about forty vendors, a score of club members, and hundreds of customers. We were all intact, tired, but in good spirits. Vendor vehicles were riding low, though higher when they’d arrived; customers’ and club members’ vehicles were lower than they’d arrived….

Today I attended and worked at the first day of the 75th Annual Gem Show for the Sacramento Mineral Society. As in previous years, it is being held at the Scottish Rite Center at 6151 “H” St., Sacramento, CA (very near CSUS aka Sac State).

The show boasts dealers of slabs, specimens, beads and jewelery making supplies (findings). The club also provides the ever-popular prize wheel for juniors, geode cutting, hourly and daily raffles, a grand prize raffle, educational materials and a silent auction. The auction raises funds for an annual scholarship for a CSUS student majoring in Geology or Earth Science. I worked this table, helping Joy who is always a gas (I will avoid the obvious pun). And, of course, I also made a few purchases toward this worthy cause (some of which are shown in the gallery below):

(Joy helping a customer)

(Thunderegg slice with Montana-like agate)

(Blue lace agate)

(Colorful “Onyx” i.e. calcite, not actual onyx)

Sharing the stage on which auction takes place, is the skeleton of a Siberian cave bear (approximately 50,000-70,000 years old). It is on display courtesy of Applegate Lapidary, and is the last time this skeleton will be shown to the public.

(I will also get a side-view when I return on Sunday).

As a lapidary, I tend to visit the slab/rough dealers. A few of the dealers carried some slabs, but it is not their primary focus. Garth Duncan, proprietor of Gems of an Idea, however, carries slabs galore. With at least 20 linear feet of table space, largely occupied by tubs of slabs, one can purchase an astonishing array of jaspers, agates, jade, tiger eye, rhodonite, and some mystery rocks. Among other purchases from Garth, I was unable to resist some very unusual old-stock a slice of possible Botswana agate, a heel cut of Dryhead agate,Stone Canyon jasper in deep orange colors and a piece of tiger eye embedded in some (Graveyard Point-like plume agate):

Further scrutinizing what dealers have to offer, I succumbed to the sweet siren song of some gemmy Utah dinosaur bone (“gembone”) from Tom’s Rocks:

Of course, any gem show is incomplete without visiting the jade dealers. We are lucky enough to have Mike and Joan Burkleo of Friends of Jade come to our show most years. Not only do they sell suiseki, slicks and cobbles, but also carved and crafted jade items. Of these, my favorite (and completely out of my price range) are the jade knives, displayed illuminated to show their translucence:

Perhaps one day…

Since I was working, I was unable to get photos of all the dealers. Some I could not get due to lighting issues or not wanting to interfere with customers. In any case, I will try again on Sunday. These fine folks include sellers of magnificent crystal specimens, a mind-boggling array of meteorites and other fine materials. To finish, here are some more assorted photos I did get:

Yesterday I decided to head out to the annual Pow-Wow and rock show Snyder’s Ranch in Valley Springs (located in Calaveras County, CA.) for my first time ever. This is the first time that it has been held over Labor Day weekend, due to rain and muddy conditions in previous years. I had not attended in these years, when it was held in May, because of a conflict with the Whole Earth Festival. This year with my son at his mom’s (too bad, he would have loved it), I made the hour-and-a half trek from Davis. From the point where I exited Hwy-99,the drive drive through rolling, golden hills was quite pleasant.

I arrived a little bit after noon (I had gone to the Davis Farmers Market first), and parked in a bumpy, dry cattle pasture, along with many others. Parking and admission to this event are both free, which is nice. In the less than 100 yards that I walked to enter the show, I acquired a nice coating of red dust. Free sunscreen, I suppose.

Once in, I was treated to booth after booth of rocks, minerals, crafts etc. I’ve never been to the Quartzite or Tucson shows, so this was impressive. Boulders, slabs, cabochons, spheres and other products of agate, jasper, jade and other lapidary materials (including man-made materials) were available in droves. Selenite wands and other metaphysical products were on display as well.

Most items were reasonably priced for what they are, though some seem expensive at first blush. When looking at an item, I always like to remember the advice of Joe, the president of the Sacramento Mineral Society. To paraphrase, he tells that once you’ve determined that the quality is there (that it is likely take a polish, that there aren’t excessive fractures or pits…), ask yourself, “how many cabs do I have to sell to make my money back?” If the answer is one or two, and that you will have sufficient material leftover for myself, then don’t feel too bad.

I decided to wander before purchasing. Off to one side, I saw a bunch of old-timers doing the “antique gas engine demonstrations,” which consisted mainly of the engines sitting there sputtering, but not really running anything. I don’t really see the point of this, but then I’m not any sort of gear-head or car buff.

Of the actual Pow-Wow, there was little evidence. Mainly, there was a booth selling fry-bread and “Indian tacos,” but little else. A healing ceremony was performed for a local woman with kidney issues who had apparently outlived the doctors predictions by several years, but that was the extent of it while I was there. I have attended Pow-Wows at UC Davis, and also at Deganawida-Quezalcoatl (“D-Q”) University, just outside Davis, before this Native American University was closed, due to financial and accreditation issues. Having been to these Pow-Wows, that portion of this event was a little underwhelming.

After some wandering, I came across the booth of the Sacramento Mineral Society, staffed by the usual suspects (Terry, Paul, Carrie, Mike and a few in-and-outers). They were giving information and cutting a few geodes.

After a while, I resumed my shopping. I, of course wanted far more than I could afford. I don’t know if it helped that nearly all of the dealers were willing make good deals for buyers of multiple items. It was nice, of course, but made deciding harder. I finally opted for a few slabs from J2B2 rocks. I bought a small slab of bumblebee jasper, which essentially looks like yellow tigers eye. Apparently the miner in Indonesia is not able to produce as much as he’d initially hoped, so there wasn’t much of this. I also purchased a slice of Prudent Man agate, which, while pricey, ended up being cheaper than what the mine itself sells it for. My favorite buy, however, is a slice of Indonesian orbicular river jasper. This stuff looks like Ocean jasper of a quality that is hard to find.

The orbs are floating in a lovely clear agate, and there are druzy vugs everywhere. There may make placement of cabochons on the slab a tad difficult, but the same vugs should also provide a nice sparkle-accent to cabs. One things I expect to see soon (if it isn’t already happening) is for this stuff to be passed off as OJ at a three- or even five-fold mark-up on eBay.

I also had a hard time resisting a milk crate of assorted jade pieces that sold for less than what the chunk of Clear Creek jadeite (probably nearly 15lb) is worth. The dealer, Sam Brown, was well aware of this, and was just happy to clear out some material he’d acquired at a recent estate sale. It probably didn’t hurt that we chatted for a while, and it turned out that he had previously worked and lived in Davis.

The other person I spent some time with was Adam “The Agate Hunter.” Those of you on Yahoo rock-hounding groups probably know of him. Not only is he an inveterate advocate for public lands access, but not too long ago, there was a standing invitation to his (and Theresa’s) wedding and subsequent rock-hunt in Afton Canyon (in the Mojave). From our conversation, I am quite sure that we are on nearly opposite ends of the political spectrum, but that through rocks and some other issues, we also found a great deal of common ground. From him, I purchased some Wyoming jade and a couple of agate slabs from his Sandy Mesa claim.

Luckily, by this time it was a little past 5:00, and time to head home, as my wallet was sorely depleted. Luckily, for each item I bought, Joe’s “rule” is intact: I should be able to more than break even if I sell a single cab, with enough material left over for Christmas gifts and such. Proceeds from any other cabs that are sold will be used to bolster my son’s college fund. Now, all that remains is to make and sell a few cabs….